What would happen if instead of having 50 STATES, the USA only had its 13 original STATES until today?

Question

I notice one answer... the Stars and Stripes nowadays would only have 13 white stars!! LOL ;) Now seriously, what kind of America we'd have then? We never develop any colonization in the Wild West?

Perhaps, the Native American (Ironquois, Lakota, etc) would rise and found their own nation in the Western Border of 13 STATES?

Answer 1

This is not a very easy question to answer, because we have to think of things that did happen, and imagine what would be the result if those things did not happen.

To start with, it's safe to assume that Vermont, and probably a part of Maine would become part of the U.S. At the time of the American Revolution, Vermont was disputed territory, claimed by both New York and New Hampshire, and Maine was administered by Massachusetts.

Next, assume that the U.S. did achieve independence from Britain, but everything across the Appalachians remained securely in British hands. The French were already out of the continent after 1763 as a result of the Plains of Abraham, the Seven Years War, and the French and Indian War. This means that the Northwest Ordinance (1787) involving territory in the Great Lakes area north of the Ohio River would never have happened.

All of that, I think, is necessary to proceed with your question.

Jumping toward the west, it's safe to assume Mexico would still become independent of Spain (1821), but it's not clear that Mexico could continue to hold Texas, California, and what is today the American southwest. Spain had been in decline for some time regarding its New World holdings, so I doubt that it would have held onto Florida.

The Napoleonic Wars would have had an affect on the Mississippi basin. My guess is that British Canada would have spread throughout the Great Lakes region, with Montreal as administrative center and immigration port, but that the lower Mississippi would have split off.

There was a border dispute in the early 1800s that was resolved by creation of the Florida panhandle. My guess is that the United States would want a Gulf port -- probably Mobile Bay. With Spain's weakness, Florida would probably have become part of the U.S.

Having said that, I can see much of the Mississippi basin becoming a separate country, with New Orleans and St. Louis as major cities. This country would extend from the Appalachians to the Rockies (including Texas), but south of both the Ohio and Missouri Rivers. North of those rivers would be Canadian territory.

Alaska would be Russian, and the British would have controlled the Columbia River watershed, including what we now call the Pacific Northwest.

That leaves California and the American southwest up in the air. It's hard to say how that one would turn out, but my guess is that Mexico would continue to control it weakly until the discovery of gold -- an event that would prompt a gold rush and an independence movement.

So politically under your hypothesis, I see a United States all along the eastern seaboard from Maine to Florida, with access to Lakes Erie and Ontario, and to the Gulf of Mexico at Mobile. (Or maybe just at Pensacola.)

British Canada would include everything it is today, plus the Great Lakes region down to the Ohio, everything north of the Missouri as far west as the Rockies, plus the Columbia River Basin -- essentially the west coast between California and Alaska.

An independent country (Texas??) would exist in the lower Mississippi Valley, extending from the Appalachians to the Rockies, south of the Ohio and Missouri Rivers.

Mexico would retain the desert southwest and the Great Basin (Nevada, Utah, Arizona, parts of New Mexico and Colorado); and California would become an independent nation.

Next part of the question is how all this would have affected development. I'm afraid this question is getting too big to handle. There would be no Civil War. Slavery in the United States would die on the vine, but it could be a big issue in the Lower Mississippi. Immigration patterns would change significantly, and population distribution would be quite different. Transportation networks (canals, rail lines, highways) would be very different. Manufacturing would still be concentrated in the east, but Canada (now including the Great Lakes area) would become an economic powerhouse.

In time, California would have a strong economy because of its fertile Central Valley, but Canada would be the most economically self-sufficient nation on the continent. The United States would not become a superpower.

I could go on and on with this speculation, but this is enough.

Answer 2

Actually,

Canada & Mexico would be a lot bigger and the West would not be as developed as there was a big push by the Americans to "go West".
The 13 states would be very dependent on others for oil and a lot of agriculture and the overall population would be very much smaller.

Answer 3

We would have thirteen really big states that would cover all the lower 48 plus Alaska and Hawaii. Picture the outline of the USA, with only 13 lines running East-West as each state grew longer and longer over the years.

Answer 4

The Houdenashonee, that you call the Iroquois, mostly were in what is now New York and Pennsylvania - these are two of the original 13 States

Answer 5

mexico would be a world power, with all the territories it lost in the treaty of guadalupe!! (california and texas, just to remind the most importantones)
and probably there would be a greater quebec reaching louisiana too... but i dont think native americans' situation would change much.
and definetly english wouldn't be such an important language worldwide, probably spanish would be dominant

Answer 6

If a country have as many as states there would be easy maintaining the states .the country will suffer when it has less number of states because of lack of proper administration.The same thing would happen to America also there is no doubt at all

Answer 7

we would be fitting like all the other country in the world all country have to unite as one or they fit for ever - like asia and all the other

Answer 8

It is hard to imagine because you are asking a what if type of question

Answer 9

It would be a major bummer because there would not be a Texas.

Answer 10

well i think we would be owned by some other country if that was the casse